Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of supporting a user operation in a system cooperation function using wireless communication.
Description of the Related Art
A technique of using an image processing apparatus (MFP) from a mobile terminal has received attention. In particular, a technique of causing a nearby MFP to do print output using the OS of a mobile terminal or an application provided by a device vendor has received attention. Additionally, the mobile terminal is equipped with short distance communication (Wi-Fi Direct®, Bluetooth®, NFC, or the like), and can be connected to a compatible device via the short distance communication and exchange data. Peer-to-peer communication can also be performed by the short distance communication between the mobile terminal and the MFP.
There has been developed a technology of specifying the position of a device or performing positioning and distance measurement using a technology (for example, BLE (Bluetooth® Low Energy)) capable of energy-saving long-distance communication out of these short distance communication technologies. For example, a transmitter BLE-broadcasts information including device information. A receiver receives the signal in a region, thereby specifying the transmitter and measuring the positional relationship. Such information transmission will be referred to as notification transmission, and the signal will be referred to as a notification signal hereinafter. There has also been developed a peer-to-peer connection technology that uses these short distance communication technologies, including the LE mode, together. iBeacon® is the mechanism of a position information service. When this mechanism is used, it is possible to provide a service in which a transmitter is placed in a store, and a customer's mobile terminal detects a signal from the transmitter and is thus notified of the information of store sales. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-310865 discloses a transmission control technique of causing an information processing apparatus to detect a portable terminal, acquire mail information, edit the mail information, and transmit email to the portable terminal.
Occasions to use a nearby MFP from a mobile terminal are expected to further grow, and a short distance communication technology between a mobile terminal and an MFP has also been developed.
However, when the above-described notification transmission technology is applied to a conventional image processing system, it is difficult for the user to know a device whose operation unit should be operated concerning system cooperation between the mobile terminal and the MFP. For example, it is hard for the user to know a device whose operation unit should be operated when using a system cooperation function such as a scanning function of the MFP.